Final push to drive IS from last Iraqi stronghold

BESIEGED Mosul in Iraq COALITION-backed Iraqi forces are trying to topple Islamic State’s Iraq HQ in Mosul within a fortnight.

A massive push into IS’s last Iraqi stronghold comes amid fears for up to 200,000 civilians trapped there.

Iraqi troops, backed by American and UK special forces plus coalition warplanes including the RAF, have retaken much of the city, including the airport and the university.

But fighting in the old town is difficult — with the narrow streets and high buildings hiding IS snipers, booby-traps and “Mad Max-style” cars driven by suicide bombers. Major Qusay al-Kinani, head of Iraq’s special forces, said: “Mosul fell to IS on June 10, 2014, so by June 10 this year it must be liberated.”

Troops and IS forces are fighting under horrific conditions, with the fasting month of Ramadan having started on Friday.

An Iraq official said: “The fighting is intense. The presence of civilians means we have to be cautious.”

The fall of Mosul would mark the end of the Iraq half of the “caliphate” declared nearly three years ago by IS leaders.

Western-backed fighters are trying to oust ISIS from their Raqqa HQ in neighbouring Syria.